Case against Macau kindergarten worker dropped

The case has been shelved due to a lack of evidence and no further investigation will take place

ByAsia Times staff

Citing a lack of evidence, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Macau has dropped a sexual abuse case against a former kindergarten worker from the Philippines.

The 26-year-old Filipino De Leon, who worked at the D. José da Costa Nunes Kindergarten, was arrested in May last year for allegedly sexually harassing three girls under his care, Macao Daily News reported, citing Macau’s Portuguese newspaper Ponto Final.

Parents received notifications from the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Friday that the case has been shelved due to a lack of evidence, adding that no further investigation will take place.

It is understood that the worker has been fired from his job with the kindergarten, and because of the investigation, has been barred from leaving Macau.

The man was a janitor who had worked at the kindergarten for four years. One of his jobs was to help take children to the washroom, to clean and change their diapers.

Judiciary police said last year that medical examinations of the alleged victims had shown no evidence of sexual abuse. However, they could not rule out the possibility that he might have touched the girls’ private parts or otherwise abused them while he was alone with them.